


of making mistakes

by fiveyaaas



Series: under mistletoe [24]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Blood, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Childhood Friends, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Number Five | The Boy Needs A Hug, and i write for myself before anybody else, and that is FUNNY, bc it is an angst fic, i suppose you could call this platonic but if you do i s2g you better be an only child, involving play on words, that i have hidden within the depths, there is a very dumb joke in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:27:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28404738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiveyaaas/pseuds/fiveyaaas
Summary: “Five flinched as he poured alcohol over his cut, wondering if he should even bother wasting it for this, figuring he probably should. Enough of his skin was ripped from the stupid fucking can that he was starting to feel dizzy from the bleeding. He wished Vanya was there. She’d always been the best at doing this. Aside from Grace, who had been programmed to provide any medical care necessary, Vanya was the only one in his family who knew how to do stitches. If he had been a little smarter, he would have asked Vanya to teach him. The skill would certainly come in handy now. “
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy/Vanya Hargreeves
Series: under mistletoe [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2036878
Comments: 1
Kudos: 24
Collections: Harcest Ficmas 2020





	of making mistakes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [insLicht](https://archiveofourown.org/users/insLicht/gifts).



Five flinched as he poured alcohol over his cut, wondering if he should even bother wasting it for this, figuring he probably should. Enough of his skin was ripped from the stupid fucking can that he was starting to feel dizzy from the bleeding. He wished Vanya was there. She’d always been the best at doing this. Aside from Grace, who had been programmed to provide any medical care necessary, Vanya was the only one in his family who knew how to do stitches. If he had been a little smarter, he would have asked Vanya to teach him. The skill would certainly come in handy now. 

He glanced over to her book, scowling when he felt like the picture on the cover was giving him a disapproving look. “I  _ know _ that this is my fault.”

Vanya didn’t respond, and he cleared his throat uncomfortably. He knew on some level that he probably shouldn’t  _ want  _ to hallucinate, but hearing her voice right now would be nice. Especially when he worried that he might catch a secondary infection somehow and was convinced at any second he might die. If he got sick at all, it could literally mean life or death for him, considering the fact that there was nobody to help him if he did, no antibiotics, very little fever reducers. It would be nice to hear from her, to know that he wasn’t completely alone. Five would have to find a better thing to talk to her than her book at some point. Something more human-shaped. 

Maybe she wouldn’t speak to him because he knew that she’d never have anything to say to him. Five knew that ghosts were real because of Klaus. Likely, Vanya was around somewhere. He spent many moments of the day saying apologies aloud, hoping her ghost would hear them. Sometimes, he could convince himself that she was listening. Most of the time, though, he figured that if she  _ could  _ hear him, she ignored it. 

Five would deserve that, for leaving her. 

But he would fix this. 

His vision landed in the direction of the mansion, as it usually did. His chapped lips were starting to feel raw as he bit them, and a memory came to mind, something that happened a few months ago. Or, well, depending on how one looked at it, eighteen years ago, a stretch of time older than himself.

_ “What are you doing?” Five asked, blinking beside Vanya, still unused to calling her that but forcing himself to do so because her name meant so much to her. It was free time, and she was spending it in her room, which was annoying, considering the fact that they’d agreed to always spend free time together.  _

_ She shoved the book she was reading underneath her pillow, scowling at him. “Why are you in my room? You’re supposed to knock. We have an agreement.” _

_ Five shoved his hands in his pockets, feeling his cheeks heat. “I was worried,” he mumbled.  _

_ “Why? You saw me at breakfast.” She rolled her eyes, turning around to look at him. Despite the irritated tone, she grinned at him. _

_ Five dislodged her pillow, snatching her book before she would notice. When he read the title, he burst into laughter. “You stealing Allison’s romance novels, V?” _

_ Vanya blushed, either from the nickname or from being caught. Five wanted to find out. “Ben hasn’t grabbed me anything recently, and I was getting desperate. Plus, Allison left it out somewhere I could take it easily.” _

_ “Why didn’t you just ask me to get you a book?” Five asked, flipping to a page at random and dramatically reading the scenes for her, though it was hard to say any of the nonsense with a serious tone and he kept laughing as he read the love interest’s scandalous confessions. “Who actually reads this shit?  _ Jesus.”

_ “I think it’s kind of sweet,” Vanya told him, blush spreading to her neck.  _

_ “Nobody actually talks like that, you know.” _

_ “Isn’t that kind of the point of reading romance? To have something you can’t?” _

_ “That’s a rather pessimistic take.” _

_ She shrugged. In German, she asked him if he had had a good time in personal training earlier. They always tried to switch languages when they talked about anything serious, convinced that they were some of the only ones who actually paid attention when they were in class.  _

_ Five nodded to Vanya. He hadn’t actually had a good time in training. The reason he had been a little late to getting to their usual meetup spot was because he’d had to thoroughly brush his teeth after Father’s training had led him to vomit. If Vanya figured out, she’d only be upset. She didn’t need to know about such things. Plus, he didn’t want his breath to smell when he talked to her, which he felt was fair.  _

_ “How long have you been reading?” Five asked, switching back to English, silently trying to convey that he didn’t want to talk about his training.  _

_ She understood, thankfully, and she told him she’d just been reading since free time had started.  _

_ “What is that book even about?” _

_ “I think it’s about Christmas and a woman getting into a relationship with a guy but realizing that she actually loved his brother.” _

_ “That sounds horrible.” _

_ “It is, actually. Though I always love to read about kissing scenes with mistletoe. They’re cute.” _

_ He frowned at her, trying to avoid looking at her lips. “They sound unoriginal.” _

_ She laughed before glancing down. “Shit. Your hand.” _

_ Five glanced down in confusion, realizing that he’d hurt himself during training without realizing. “Oh, it’s nothing.” _

_ “Here, let me look at it.” _

Five blinked, glancing over to Vanya’s book suspiciously. He wished that he’d asked Klaus more about his powers. Maybe there was some sort of message she was sending.

Or, maybe he just missed her. 

“I’m really sorry,” Five said out loud, laying his head against the dirt, hoping that if he was laying down and staring at the sky, she would be somewhere above him. “For everything.”

He rolled his head to the side, spotting something in the distance and nearly gasping in shock. When he ran over to it, unable to really use his powers these days, he wondered if maybe, just maybe, this would be her. She could have gotten hurt, unable to-

“Oh,” Five muttered, glancing down at the mannequin. Sorrow filled his heart, and he crouched down. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!💕


End file.
